B.A., Antioch College; M.A., Brandeis; M.A., Boston College; J.D., Harvard. Mark Stern is Appellate Litigation Counsel in the Civil Division at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Following graduation from Harvard Law School, Mr. Stern clerked for Judge Robert S. Vance on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and later joined the Washington firm of Wald, Harkrader & Ross. Professor Stern has appeared in all of the federal courts of appeals, arguing about two hundred cases. He has been heavily involved in litigation defining the scope of federal and state powers, and has defended several statutes against federalism-based challenges, including the Brady Handgun Control Act, the Controlled Substances Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Violence Against Women Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinics Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. He has also litigated the constitutionality of state statutes that regulate in areas of concern to the national government, such as the Massachusetts Burma Act and the California Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act. He and co-teacher Alisa Klein have published articles addressing the constitutional rationale for invalidating local sanctions against foreign trade; and the relationship between the Department of Justice and its clients.
